1. IndyCar Series Championship At A Glance (a high-res pdf graphic is
posted at www.indycar.com/media): After 16 races and 2,660 laps of
intense competition this season, the race for the IndyCar Series
championship has come down to two of the league's top heavyweights: 2003
series champion Scott Dixon and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio
Castroneves.

2. IndyCar Series driver Dan Wheldon and Panther Racing co-owner John Barnes were
guests on today's Indy Racing League teleconference.

They said what...? Listed below are select quotes from today's
teleconference.

Dan Wheldon

Q. Tell us about how things have gone for you this season, and how it
eventually now has worked into a deal with Panther for next year?

DAN WHELDON: Well, as far as the season has gone so far it's
perhaps not been the season that I would have liked. I'm always one
that's aiming to win the Indianapolis 500. That is a race that's very
kind of near and dear to my heart. I didn't achieve that.

As far as the other races, we've been competitive at all of them, but
just perhaps haven't had the result that we've wanted.

In terms of the news that just brought yesterday I'm incredibly excited
to be joining Panther Racing for next season, and possibly a little bit
sooner. You know, can't wait to get started.

It's an organization I'm very familiar with. I started my IndyCar Series
career there back in 2002. The team has always been a contender for
victories. Like I said, I'm just very, very excited.

It's great to be working with J.B. again. He's a guy that's near and dear
to my heart and one that's very honest. There's no kind of ‑‑
there is nothing that really surrounds him. He just tells you how it is
and gives you the best possible equipment to win races, and that's all I
want to do. So I'm really excited and raring to go.

John Barnes

Q. Tell us about the opportunity to get a guy like Dan to come back
to the team and drive for you?

JOHN BARNES: Well, as Dan said, we're just over the moon about
this. Between us now we've got 30 IndyCar wins, three championships and
an Indy 500 win.

Dan has equaled everything we've done and surpassed it by being an Indy
500 winner. Growing up here in Indianapolis there is nothing more
important to me than winning at Indy, and surrounding ourselves with
people like Dan puts us in a position to do that.

So I can tell you everybody here gets up every morning thinking about one
place, and that is 16th and Georgetown. To have Dan here with us, and
helping us guide that ship, we're stoked.

Perera opened the 2008 season with Conquest Racing and recorded finishes
of 14th at Homestead-Miami and 20th at St. Petersburg before being
replaced by Jaime Camara.

Perera joined the Firestone Indy Lights series in June at Iowa and
recorded a victory and two pole positions in nine starts.

"I would like to thank A.J Foyt and ABC Supply for giving me the
chance to get back into an IndyCar Series car this weekend in
Chicago," said Perera. "It's a huge pleasure to work
with a team like Foyt Racing with so much experience and such a big name
in racing."

Team Director Larry Foyt brought the French driver to his father's
attention as the team begins its scouting process for a driver for a
possible second car in 2009.

"At the beginning of the year, I noticed that Franck was one of the
quickest among the transition team drivers to adapt to the Indy
cars," Foyt said. "He fared well on the oval in Homestead and
qualified well at St. Pete. We thought then that he was a talented
driver, and as we're looking to become a two-car team next year, we
thought he might be a good asset to our program. We'll see how we
get along with him this weekend."

***

4. HVM Racing will make 200th Indy car start: The PEAK Antifreeze & Motor
Oil Indy 300 will be HVM Racing's 200th start in Indy car racing
since the team was acquired by Keith Wiggins in late 2000. The team
competed in CART and the Champ Car World Series from 2001-07 before
joining the IndyCar Series this season.

"Reaching 200 starts is a great milestone, but you don't
really think too much about what you've done in the past more than
looking ahead to the next 200 starts and being stronger and more
competitive," Wiggins said. "We're a team that has been
fortunate to have had success in the past and have done so with many
different drivers in many varying circumstances. We've been able to
help some young guys and give them the opportunities to be
successful. That was again the case this season with E.J. (Viso)."

***

The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with the PEAK
Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 Sept. 7 at Chicagoland Speedway. The race
will be telecast live in High Definition at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The
race will air live on the IMS Radio Network. A Spanish-language telecast
of the race will be carried by ESPNDeportes. The IMS Radio Network
broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio and www.indycar.com. The
2008 Firestone Indy Lights season concludes Sept. 7 with the
SunRichGourmet.com 100 at Chicagoland Speedway. The race will air live at
12:30 p.m. Sept. 7 on ESPN2.